Meet Frenchie!

So first of all, yikes! I have been seriously neglecting this blog of mine. Real life is a bit crazy right now for sure, but I also feel so connected through Instagram that I think I've forgotten the value of a real actual post that's longer than a few quick sentences under a hastily snapped picture. I'm not usually big on New Year's resolutions because I NEVER stick to them and then I just end up feeling even worse about myself, but I seriously do want to get back to blogging. Now I just have to hope that all y'all still want to check in with me from time to time!

So, what's new, you ask?
Well, if you do follow me on Instagram you already know this, but I have a new class pet! About a month ago, I adopted the cutest guinea pig ever. His name is Mr. French (but we call him Frenchie) and he was purchased by a friend to be a class pet in first grade, but she found him to be very skittish and shy and just not the right fit for curious first graders. Then another friend of ours took him home to be a pet for her five year old son. Turns out he was allergic, so little piggie was back on the market again. On impulse, I decided to take him in. I really thought he would just be a class pet that would live at school and just go home with different kids on long weekends or vacations. But that is NOT what happened. I fell in love with this little stinker and now he comes home with me every night! It takes a few extra minutes in the morning to wrangle him up and definitely takes some planning when I leave school if I had errands planned, but so far it's working out. I took him for a vet visit, just to be sure he was healthy and happy, especially because kids are handling him too. The vet assured me that he would be fine on his own for up to 3 days as long as he had plenty of hay and water. So far that hasn't happened, but it's good to know it's an option if I need it. It actually was a bit of a rough start for us, as Frenchie was super skittish and not used to so much human contact, but he's made a ton of progress. I'm planning a longer blog post with things to think about when considering adopting a guinea pig because they're actually a lot more work than I realized, but to me it's totally worth it. I mean, look at this cute little thing!

On another note, it's December 12 and there is not a hint of Christmas in my house. In fact, there are still several turkeys currently staring me down that I need to pack away. I have purchased no gifts, baked no cookies, have no lights on the house, no elf on my shelf. And for real, all I want to do right now is go take a nap. Instead I will tackle this house and at least de-Thanksgiving it. Maybe. Probably not. I'm in trouble.

4 comments

YOU can do this! Go after those decorations. . . maybe not all of them, but do put something up. My husband said (after about the 5th day of decorating) "Do you think you're done now?" I was. . . I better be. And I had to say to him, "I do realize that these decorations are mainly for my enjoyment! When the kids come over or when my daughter and her family get here from Houston next week, I know they'll enjoy them too."

I also like to think that for 11 months of the year my house looks fairly normal. December is the one month that I make major decorating changes so that the house looks different. Then When January rolls around I can go back to normal. So put up something, big or small to give yourself a change of some kind. I'm glad to see you back to blogging. Yours is one that I do like to read on a regular basis. PattySecond In Line

Denise... you make me giggle!!!I love guinea pigs!! I've had a few as classroom pets also. I loved them. Spot and Dot were my 2 first pigs ever. I remember buying them more fresh vegies than I EVER bought myself. Frenchie is adorable with the cutest little face. I'd play with him instead of decorate too ;) xoLory

I've had two guinea pigs in my second grade class, and they are wonderful class pets. The first one I had from birth and he was great about being handled. The second one I got when she was older and she was always a bit skittish. I would regularly use them as rewards. I would tell the kids that if we finished our work in the next X minutes, we could take out the guinea pig. I would have them sit on the rug in a circle with their knees touching, and then I would put the guinea pig in the middle of the circle. They loved it! I will admit that I had a real hard time cutting their nails though!! It always creeped me out a bit, but they do make great pets.